Day 1 in Pool II of #EuroVolleyU17W brings victories for Germany, Turkey and Italy

Great battles on the field and many emotions – this is what Day 1 in Pool II of the #EuroVolleyU17W brought. Germany, Turkey and Italy proved to be stronger today in their matches, claiming 3-1 victories over The Netherlands, Ukraine and Romania respectively.

Germany vs. The Netherlands 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-17)

• Sina Stöckmann led Germany to a perfect start of their own in #EuroVolleyU17W. The German opposite scored 19 points and helped her team defeat The Netherlands by 3-1 in the first match of Day 1 in Pool II in Sofia.
• The strongest weapon of the winners was the good performance on serving.
• The players coached by Jens Tietböhl made a total of 14 aces and despite having lost the opening set by 21-25 they did a great come back, taking well deserved first three points of the competition “in their pockets”!
• For The Netherlands Iris Vos finished as a top scorer with 17 points.
Jens Tietböhl, head coach of Germany: “We understood the really important components are serve and reception. We managed to be a little bit better in these two elements today and this is the main reason for our victory. We were really brave, showed great control, discipline and we played well in attack. Obviously I’m happy with our performance.
Eelco Beijl, head coach of The Netherlands: “First of all compliments to Germany. They made some changes during the game and were well organized in block and defense. They handled their attack and deserved to win. I think we started good but when Germany changed their tactics we were not able to react. This is just our first match here so we will fight in the next games.”Turkey vs. Ukraine 3-1 (25-23, 26-24, 16-25, 27-25)

• Turkey claimed first victory in Pool II against Ukraine by 3-1.
• Damla Tokman finished as a top scorer for the winners contributed 14 points, but the player who impressed the most was the Turkish libero Gülce Güctekin. She did a great job in defense and reception.
• For Ukraine Kateryna Tkachenko finished with 14 points.
Bülent Gunes, head coach of Turkey: “I am not satisfied with the way we played but I’m happy because we won. It Is difficult in the first day of every tournament. The stress and the pressure are big. These are young girls and it’s normal for them to feel even more under pressure. Tomorrow we will try to improve our performance and to achieve another victory.”
Viktor Perebyynis, head coach of Ukraine: “The Turkish team is more experienced than us. We had our chances in all sets but we lost with really small differences, by only two points in all of the parts. To me the key to the win for Turkey was precisely their experience. Good for them they knew how to use that advantage.”

Romania vs. Italy 1-3 (14-25, 25-22, 11-25, 19-25)

• Pool II favorites Italy claimed a resounding 3-1 win over Romania.
• Oghosasere Omoruyi and Alessia Bolzonetti were the star performers, scoring 17 and 14 points respectively to silence a small but raucous Romanian crowd, much to the delight of their coach Michele Fanni.
• For Romania Alexia Ioana Carutasu finished as a top scorer with 19 points.

Marius Macarie, head coach of Romania:” Italy is very, very strong team. They had all Volleyball aspects and I think they are the biggest favorites for the title this year. Today in some moments we played a good Volleyball, but our main problem was the reception and if you want to achieve something against such strong team like Italy you can’t attack from the third and fourth meter”.
Marco Mencarelli, head coach of Italy “Today all matches were strange because all players were nervous in the first day of the #EuroVolleyU17W. We didn’t watch a good Volleyball but the most important thing is to start with a victory. We had a lot of ups and downs in our game but I’m happy we managed to win. Tomorrow I expect three things: first – no tension like today, second – better side-out by us and third – better block.”